In the computer world, not everything that happens is good.
Like everything in the world has a positive and negative side, technology and computers also have a positive and negative side.
Many countries have duly recognized this, and laws have been put in place to punish people for indulging in crimes done on the internet.
Cybercrime and hacking are not relative to just certain countries.
They can be found all over the world because the internet exists all over the world.
This means that cybercrime exists in Ghana as well. However, most people are not fully versed in what the law in Ghana says about cybercrime.
In today’s article, we will be looking at what the law in Ghana says about cybercrime since Ghana has one of the highest cybercrime activities in the world.
What is cybercrime?
Cybercrime is the act of using computers and the internet to commit illegal activities.
It can also be described as unlawful entry and causing harm to computer systems.
Most cybercriminals use cybercrime to steal money or valuable information from their victims.
Others engage in cyber fraud to defraud people of their money. This is all categorized under cybercrimes.
Causes Of Cybercrime In Ghana
The cause of cybercrime in Ghana mainly has to do with money.
Most people engage in the act because they want to get massive sums of money quickly.
People involved in this normally target rich people and wealthy companies, casinos, banks, and other giant firms.
Those involved in cyber fraud target almost anyone who they can defraud and extort money from.
These people mainly target old white people.
Catching cybercriminals are complicated because they mainly carry out their activities on their home computers.
You will not see them actively doing it in person. They also use software that hides them from the internet so that authorities will not be able to see them or track their locations.
Computer Vulnerability
Computers are vulnerable because we keep a lot of data on them. Negligence enables hackers to hack into computer systems since one cannot always be careful.
Hackers can also steal the data they are looking for because computers usually store it at the exact location, the hard drive.
Types Of Cybercrimes
There are several categories of cybercrime in Ghana. Among them are:
Identity Theft
This is when cybercriminals use another person’s name, credit card, or other personal information to fraud others or commit cybercrimes without permission.
This is one of the biggest problems right now.
Illegal Online Sale
When cybercriminals sell illegals items such as weapons, drugs, and in some rare cases, human organs and parts to other people on the black market
Fraudulent Calls
These are one of the most common cybercrimes in the country.
A person will call you and claim that they have mistakenly sent some money to your mobile money account.
They then request that you send the money back to them.
Unsuspecting people will fall for this by sending their own back to the fraudster.
They only later realize their mistake when it is too late.
Some fraudsters have ways of accessing your account whiles talking to you on the phone to steal all the money in your account. You can read how to protect your mobile money account from fraudsters here.
Laws Concerning Cybercrime In Ghana
The IT Act, section 66D, prescribes that any person ‘cheating by personation by using computer resource’ can be punished.
It also states that any person who, through any means of a communication device or computer resources, cheats another person by personation will be punished by imprisonment for a period of up to three years.
A security centre to regulate internet usage activities has also been set up since the internet has become an integral part of our society.
Since the internet has led to many cybercrime reports, the cybersecurity centre is meant to tackle these cases and clamp down on cyber criminals.
The government has also launched some initiatives to tackle cybercrime.
Some of these initiatives are National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy, Safer Digital Ghana, and National Communications Authority.
Conclusion
As you can see from the article, cybercrime is punishable by law in Ghana. Any persons that indulge face jail terms should they get caught by the authorities because it is one of the biggest menaces of society.
